It's not like we are going to stop using them, at least until a better broker comes along. But, like anything else, we hold our broker to a higher standard. I have a million feature requests in mind, but I'm wondering what kind of volume I have to do to get them to fix a dialog box issue. But then, on the flip side, if I did that kind of volume, would I use IB?
One area where IB can improve is to put the actual version iteration of the latest TWS on its web site. For example, the current TWS is 918.7, but a user may have 918.6 on his computer without knowing the need to upgrade for bug fixes. Having said that, I'm still on 906.9, like Bob and kiwi, and have no incentive to upgrade.
I downgraded the nvidia device driver for my 8600 gt graphics card to 270 from 275 and have a much more stable system now for running ib tws and multicharts.
BUG: TWS steals focus even without a dialog box. (Not sure if this is a feature or a bug, not sure how to turn this off.) I'm using this: Build 916.5, Apr 4, 2011 11:25:43 AM Jolt Build 1.1.8, Jan 25, 2011 12:44:01 PM Nia Build 1.7.10, Mar 16, 2011 12:08:00 PM ModelNav Build 1.1.30, Jan 25, 2011 12:48:03 PM Java Version: 1.6.0_22 OS: Linux (amd64, 2.6.38-8-generic) I'm running an automated model in the paper trade account, and periodically the application steals the focus, usually after a trade hits. Not even related to the dialog box issue I have with too-late-to-cancel. When it steals the focus and I am typing, I am always landed inside some sort of symbol-search window. Focus-stealing behavior should really be managed in one sort of central place, where I can specify what events I want my focus to actually be shifted on.
IB TWS Bug: The "demo" system doesn't allow click traders to click through price and get a fill all the time, meaning the demo is crippled. This only happens some of the time, typically more so on the weekends. If a user logs in with edemo/demouser, occasionally he or she will get a login where if he clicks on the asking price (bidding price), the demo won't actually give him a fill. The order just sits there while the fake price might move through the order a full 20 cents without giving a fill. In other words, the only thing the demo demos is how TWS might be broken, and not how it might actually work during the day. Moreover, since market data isn't flowing on weekends, testing API code to see if order placement features work doesn't work right. Simulator is not an option, since replays can't be done on the simulator. Demo is useful, since it pushes out junk data that occasionally makes for useful feature testing. When fills work right, this is an extremely useful feature!
In the middle of trading today, IB stopped displaying my PnL on TWS. The GUI just stopped showing it outright for a few symbols.
This may not qualify as a true bug per se, but it's something which BUGS the hell out of me ... On IB charts alot of the time you can't grab a trendline if it's too close to another line. I don't know the correct term for it but they have the sensitivity/granularity of the mouse snap-to-TL function set way too course. There are many times when I have multiple TL's (diagonals, horizontals, fibs, etc.) criss-crossing, and I need to change the angle or extend one of them, and THERE IS NO POSSIBLE POSITIONING OF THE MOUSE THAT WILL GRAB THE LINE WITHOUT MOVING ANOTHER TL OUT OF THE WAY FIRST. It's exasperating in the heat of battle, to say the least. I would invite IB's programmers to draw on any recent ES intra-day chart all the major TL's, channels, and horizontal S/R lines (swing H's & L's) - basic stuff, and see how difficult they are to manipulate ... in real time, while trying to trade.